Chakmas Are Not Indigenous People of Mizoram: YMA President

Central Committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) president Lalbiakzuala on Wednesday claimed that ethnic Zo community living in Mizoram are indigenous people of the state, but not Chakmas.

Addressing a meeting on the celebration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, organised by the Zo-Reunification Organisation (ZoRO) in Aizawl, Lalbiakzuala said that the Chakmas are indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and Bangladesh is the homeland of the Chakma community.

Terming Chakmas of Mizoram as ‘aliens overstaying in Mizoram’ he alleged that the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have been trying to snatch away the privileges of the indigenous people of the state.

He also appealed to the political parties, NGOs and the people of Mizoram to join hands in opposing the proposed amendment to the Citizenship Bill, being pending in the Parliament. The proposed amendment could usher in demographic nightmare in the state, he added.